The proposed research addresses the claim that the self-concept has the potential to provide an extremely useful empirical and theoretical focus for research in adult development and aging. The critically on the content and organization of self-knowledge, and on how this self-knowledge is used to affirm, motivate, and defend the self. Self-knowledge includes what individuals have come to think about themselves in the past, what they know about themselves currently and very importantly, what they believe is possible for them in the future. As such, the self-knowledge "intervenes" between the ever-changing environment and individual adaption as reflected in behavior and psychological well-being. The self-concept, which is viewed as an organization of self-knowledge is dynamic, it reflects ongoing behavior and also mediates and regulates this behavior. In exploring the role of self-knowledge in adulthood and aging we will conduct a survey of a representative sample of adults 30 years of age and older who live in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, as well as several laboratory studies. The project will have four objectives: (1) To describe the content and processes of the self-concept. This will include a comprehensive assessment that focuses on the nature of individuals' past selves, current selves, future possible selves, as well as on their strategies for realizing and defending these selves; (2) To describe age, gender, socioeconomic, and ethnic differences in the content and utilization of self-knowledge; (3) To investigate some of the significant social antecedents of the content and processes of the self-concept for the total sample as well as for specific age groups; and (4) To explore a range of psychological and behavioral consequences associated with variation in the content and process of the self-concept for the total and specific age groups. The proposed study is unique in several ways: (1) instead of examining just a single global aspect of the self-concept, like self-esteem or locus of control, it includes an indepth focus on the content and process of the entire self-system, (2) instead of relying on convenience samples, it utilizes a representative sample of adults, and (3) it combines survey and laboratory methodologies to enhance each other.